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Stitched up for a new TV antenna?

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Freddyfruitba...
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PostPosted: 19:15 - 24 Nov 2022    Post subject: Stitched up for a new TV antenna? Reply with quote

My other half's mum, who's 90 and lives alone about 3 hours away, had someone round today to fix her poor TV reception. Just discovered that she's coughed up £500 to get this done. I'm gobsmacked and outraged at the amount, but before pursuing this I'd appreciate the expertise of the BCF massive - is there any possible way it could have legitimately reached this figure?

What I know is this... reception had recently become poor, especially on some channels. Aerial Man said that her roof antenna was well past its sell-by and definitely needed replacing (not going to argue with that). And apparently there was 'something in the attic' which he also said needed changing (guessing an amplifier or something? Even if it really needed renewing unlikely to be very expensive, surely?) I don't know if he also decided to renew all the coax cable.

The house is an ordinary 2-bed detached with a tiled dormer roof; ie no particular issue with installing a roof antenna; ie checked the local signal strength at https://www.freeview.co.uk/freeview-channel-checker and all 131 channels check out as 'good', so I can't even see why an amplifier would be needed. Thoughts, from anyone who knows more about this stuff than me?
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MarJay
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PostPosted: 19:36 - 24 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

It seems salty but not an order of magnitude away from where it might be.

Screwfix have wideband aerials for about £50, but they are probably the cheap and cheerful ones. I suspect the majority of the money could well be labour, and Aerial guys need to have equipment, training and I think even licenses to go up onto roofs. Certainly being a window cleaner is much more difficult these days because of that sort of thing.

It does sound steep, but I could see it legitimately going that high on an extreme case. It would have been cheaper for her to get a freesat box and a Sky dish fitted probably.
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 19:54 - 24 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

Approach who did the work and ask for a breakdown of the receipt?
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Polarbear
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PostPosted: 20:18 - 24 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have to agree with Marjay. It's certainly attainable especially if he used premium gear. Also whats his hourly rate? £40 or £50? A mornings work and thats £200 straight off.

If she has internet, get her a fire stick or even a sky glass TV.
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Nobby the Bastard
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PostPosted: 20:33 - 24 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

Where is the ariel? A lot of companies are risk adverse to going noto a roof without scaffolding these days.
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Easy-X
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PostPosted: 20:39 - 24 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

Seems a bit extreme:

https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/cost-guides/tv-aerial-installation-cost/

£250 would be more like it unless there was something particularly unusual about the install.

My mum recently got quoted £500 (seems to be the magic number at the moment.) Apparently the cam belt on her car got missed in the last service and really needs doing. This on a car that's done 17,000 miles Thinking Thing is it's one model on from my Skoda and that was rated as 60,000 for a new belt. (I left it till 80,000.)
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MarJay
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PostPosted: 20:52 - 24 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

Easy-X wrote:
Seems a bit extreme:

https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/cost-guides/tv-aerial-installation-cost/

£250 would be more like it unless there was something particularly unusual about the install.

My mum recently got quoted £500 (seems to be the magic number at the moment.) Apparently the cam belt on her car got missed in the last service and really needs doing. This on a car that's done 17,000 miles Thinking Thing is it's one model on from my Skoda and that was rated as 60,000 for a new belt. (I left it till 80,000.)


Yeh... because Cam belts are age critical as well as mileage because the rubber perishes. Just because you got away with it once doesn't mean it was the right decision!
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M.C
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PostPosted: 21:38 - 24 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

MarJay wrote:
Easy-X wrote:
Seems a bit extreme:

https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/cost-guides/tv-aerial-installation-cost/

£250 would be more like it unless there was something particularly unusual about the install.

My mum recently got quoted £500 (seems to be the magic number at the moment.) Apparently the cam belt on her car got missed in the last service and really needs doing. This on a car that's done 17,000 miles Thinking Thing is it's one model on from my Skoda and that was rated as 60,000 for a new belt. (I left it till 80,000.)


Yeh... because Cam belts are age critical as well as mileage because the rubber perishes. Just because you got away with it once doesn't mean it was the right decision!

Don't want to derail the convo but I've seen evidence of high mileage belts rather than old belts failing (obviously within reason).

Don't have much to add to the convo Embarassed A relative paid £90 (admittedly a while ago) to have an aerial just installed but this was in an walk-in attack.
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Easy-X
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PostPosted: 22:24 - 24 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

MarJay wrote:
Yeh... because Cam belts are age critical as well as mileage because the rubber perishes. Just because you got away with it once doesn't mean it was the right decision!


Good point. I can see some recommendations of "6 years / 60,000 miles whichever is first" but personally I'd go on the mileage unless there's obvious signs of perishing.
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Nobby the Bastard
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PostPosted: 22:31 - 24 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

The first sign of age perishing on a moving rubber part is when it fails.
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Ste
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PostPosted: 23:03 - 24 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's a rip off, £50 parts and £100-150 labour at the very most.
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Nobby the Bastard
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PostPosted: 23:20 - 24 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wound you like to get on a ladder and stick an ariel on the highest part of my roof?
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Howling Terror
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PostPosted: 00:15 - 25 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

If Rod Hull and Emu did it then surely Ste could.
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blurredman
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PostPosted: 10:13 - 25 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

2 years ago had new aerial installed, a splitter, and excess wiring to the attic to allow me to provide signal to future locations in the house. £160. Seems good so far still. I'd have done it all myself anyway but I don't have a ladder tall enough to get to the roof- moreover I can't do heights. EDIT: And actually, I told him to go all around the top of the house and remove all the old coax cables criss crossing all over the place making it look ugly.
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Last edited by blurredman on 23:37 - 27 Nov 2022; edited 1 time in total
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Islander
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PostPosted: 12:58 - 25 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

In the majority of places, an attic aerial with a masthead amplifier does the trick nicely. It's what I installed when Freeview pretty much took over and I'm in a weak signal area in a drystone house with thick walls.

This is what I installed. No need for roof access and the coax was already in place.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-log-megaboost-tv-aerial/799jr

£46.78 inc VAT. Labour would have been an hour tops.
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M.C
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PostPosted: 16:31 - 25 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

^Labgear stuff is pretty good

Islander wrote:
It's what I installed when Freeview pretty much took over and I'm in a weak signal area in a drystone house with thick walls.

The equipment also makes a (big) difference. I've had TV's* and freeview boxes that worked flawlessly with a very weak signal, and others that could barely pick-up a channel with the same signal.

*my current TV only needs a crappy little unboosted indoor aerial
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WD Forte
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PostPosted: 17:06 - 25 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

500 quid sounds pretty steep to me
and does make me wonder if she's been taken advantage of.
I'd be fucking furious if she had.
A detailed breakdown of the costs involved would be a start I guess.

One of my lads lives in Chippenham with this girlfriend
and had poor reception on their freeview telly using the exisiting/ancient house aerial.
I researched the local transmitter, found it was almost in line line of sight with their front window and bought them a £10 window antenna just to see if it would help
and it improved things a whole lot.
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A100man
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PostPosted: 13:41 - 30 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

She's been done. If he didn't even get on the roof she's be doubly done.

Roof assaults are not for the faint hearted to be fair but a guy that does this all day every day should take an hour or two and 50 quid parts ..
250 would be my top price,
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ThunderGuts
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PostPosted: 14:43 - 30 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

Depends; presumably the guy was in that trade specifically (not "odd jobbing") in which case he'd already have kit for dealing with most scenarios. If it was particularly awkward and he needed a cherry picker, I can see that cost being reasonable actually. Likewise if a scaffold tower was used (which he had to hire in) that would be a fair price. If he just went up a ladder though, different story entirely! If he had a tower in his "kit bag" then probably £300 would be reasonable.

Roof access costs are steep now (no pun intended). While some will lark about in their trainers, they probably aren't insured and are falling (hopefully not literally) into cowboy territory. Proper work requires safe working at height and that can get pricey.
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Freddyfruitba...
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PostPosted: 16:19 - 30 Nov 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the replies. Just to follow up - I don't know much of the detail as it's all come 2nd-hand from a 90-year-old woman who doesn't see well anyway (go figure).

I do know the guy was a pro installer; the aerial was attached to a chimney stack on a dormer roof (so, yes on a roof, but a fairly low one - certainly nothing complicated and any kit he used he had with him).

Unfortunately she ran the whole thing by her son (who also lives a long way off) and it seems he approved it, so although I'm quite sure the old dear's been stitched up like a kipper, my GF (ie the daughter) has warned me off getting involved so it's being put down to experience. I'd be apoplectic if it had been my mum.

(As it happens, I had my own roof aerial replaced about 2 years ago, costing £150; about 6 months ago I had a repeat visit as the signal had gone off, and had a mast amplifier installed for £60. Hence my scepticism as to the cost here)
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